The government of the Czech Republic has decided to strengthen visa restrictions for Russian citizens, as well as support the education of Belarusian and Ukrainian students at Czech universities.
This is stated on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
“While in Ukraine, Russian rockets fall on children’s playgrounds and on people who are just going to work, up to 200 citizens of the Russian Federation arrive in the Czech Republic through the international airport every day,” commented the head of the Czech Foreign Ministry, Jan Lipovsky.
“That is why we agreed that those Russian citizens who enter the Czech territory through the external Schengen border – in particular, our international airport – for tourism, sports or culture, will now be denied entry,” he added.
He specified that this decision will enter into force on October 25 and will apply to Russian tourists with a valid Schengen visa issued by any EU member state.
Thus, the Czech Republic joined the Baltic countries, Poland and Finland, which closed their borders to Russian tourists earlier.
At the same time, the Czech government allowed students from Ukraine to enter Czech universities, even if they received temporary protection in another EU country, and allowed Belarusian students to come to the Czech territory.
“We want to provide high-quality European education to those who are persecuted for political reasons and to those who are determined to change the current undemocratic conditions in their country,” said the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.